Dear Mr. Spence,
We, the undersigned, are electors of the federal seat of Bowman in Queensland.

Redlands City is an LNP stronghold. Two of its three state seats are held by your party’s Matt McEachan and Mark Robinson. The mayor, Karen Williams, and several councillors, are LNP aligned.

This letter does not question the political status quo – the Liberal National Party is clearly ahead. It is probable that LNP supporters in this electorate are well-represented among the names below.
Perhaps you know what’s coming. We’re saving the bad news for last. The bad news has a name – Andrew Charles Laming.

Once again, in 2016, he was chosen by your party to contest the safe federal seat of Bowman. We understand the political protocol of re-endorsing sitting members. It has given the federal LNP a slender majority in Canberra, under Malcolm Turnbull. It has given us another four years saddled with one of the rolled-gold duds of Australian politics. You will be familiar with the evidence.

It took Andrew Laming less than three years, after winning Bowman in 2004, to display his ineptitude and bad judgement. During the election campaign of 2007, to the delight of Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party, Andrew Laming’s office was raided by the Federal Police seeking evidence that he had fraudulently claimed $67,000 worth of taxpayer funds for printing campaign material.

It transpired Mr. Laming had tried to carry forward unspent electoral allowances rather than return them to general revenue as proscribed. As a result a Brisbane printer was paid $67,000 as “received” for goods that didn’t exist. In the words of the printer himself, “I think he’s been very foolish, but I don’t think he’s been involved in anything criminal.” Laming’s foolishness snatched the news agenda away from John Howard for precious days before the 2007 election. On polling day, Rudd inflicted a massive defeat on the Howard government.

Cruelly for the Redlands, Laming held his seat in the 2007 ‘Ruddslide’ – by 64 votes. It had nothing to do with his performance, he was just, and only just, outside the national swing that would have unseated him.

The next victim of Mr. Laming’s foolishness was his own political career. Appointed by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to his shadow secretariat, with responsibility for regional health services and indigenous health, the member for Bowman made no impact for better or worse between 2010 and January 2013 when the sound of Laming shooting himself in the foot echoed around the country.

An insignificant dispute between Indigenous and Pacific Island residents of Logan became a national news story after Laming tweeted ” Mobs tearing up Logan tonight. Did any of them do a day’s work today, or was it business as usual and welfare on tap?” He was unable to produce any supporting evidence of unemployment or welfare dependency among the protagonists. It quickly emerged that there was none to produce. Tony Abbott put a line through the name Andrew Laming, and he has been condemned to the furtherest reaches of the LNP backbench ever since.

Mr. Spence, we understand why your party has written him off as a go-nowhere, but why should we be left with the mess – left to endure the sneering oafish pomposity with which Mr. Laming attempts to distract us from his laziness, his refusal to countenance views not his own, and, to repeat, his foolishness.

In March 2015, Laming was suspended from Parliament for bringing a jar of blackfuel into the chamber and pouring it out onto his hand, in protest at the pollution left by cruise ship liners. Speaker Bishop described his actions as “… totally disorderly, disrespectful of the House and the Federation Chamber and potentially dangerous to the health and safety of members and staff of the Federation Chamber”. I think she means stupid.

At a local level he is equally obnoxious: Here’s a Facebook exchange concerning a new mobile tower that was rumored for Coochiemudlo Island in the Redlands:

NATALIE SMITH: Excited at the prospect of a new mobile tower in December. Andrew Laming is that the tower to be erected on Coochie?
ANDREW LAMING: No of course not, we build it to cover the most people. Coochie and SMBI are the last humans eastwards and Straddie north easterly, so you dont build a tower to cover the pellagic mackerel in the Pacific Ocean. The tower goes on the mainland to serve islands, but improve everyone else as well. Hope that explains…MARGARET ANDERSON: What a shame we are all so stupid on the islands … basically we dont rate…. Mr Laming has just made that quite clear.
ANDREW LAMING: Oh brother. I cant please everyone, even when I deliver the mobile tower and arrange the high speed roadband 6-8 years sooner that previously planned. No worries. I just work harder.

LNP MP Andrew Laming drinking beer

A subsequent phone call to Telstra, by an island resident (that’s all it took) confirmed that the tower was always going to be built on Coochiemudlo Island, and not the mainland. Six months later, that happened. As for the high speed broadband that Mr. Laming is going to arrange (6-8 years sooner) it has now been put back again from 2016 to 2019 for many Redlands residents.

Mr. Spence, think of us as dudded consumers. We bought this Laming thing in 2004, and all it’s done is sit in the corner doing nothing, or occasionally blow up in our faces. Once it even stood on its head and drank a beer. It was incorrectly sold to us as a federal representative, not the class clown or village idiot it’s turned out to be. It’s costing us an absolute bomb, around $200,000 a year, for what?

We want a replacement, nothing fancy, just one that works, listens, speaks sensibly, and doesn’t vomit all over us and make us the laughing stock of our neighbours. Why not give a good LNP up-and-comer a break, and a safe electorate. Why not (and we’re not being sarcastic or ironic here), why not, do the right thing?

39 thoughts on “Toss Laming – A letter to the Queensland LNP”

His time is certainly up. Our family’s dealings with Laming over lack of internet access have been extremely disappointing, with him showing no support whatsoever. His recent attack on the teaching profession was cheap and uncalled for. Like too many politicians he is being paid highly for doing precious little. The Redlands is undergoing massive changes because of its growth and we need politicians at all levels to display real vision and commitment to its future.

Boy Karen Williams candidates failed to win enough seats to make a majority and now she is a figure head with no really power . The mayor would have lost if a half decent candidate had opposed her . I guarantee this is her last stint . My councillor lance Hewitt is an amazing man who has also been bullied and victimised by laming .

With consistent stories of inappropriate behaviour, bullying and other antics, this boy wonder like the Mayor Karen Williams, always seem to slip and slide their way out of trouble, by simply thumbing their nose at authority and the people.
Is it the voters fault or is it because the agencies designed to hold these people to account are simply tooth less tigers. There has been countless amounts of evidence showing corruption and links to developers and yet not one presentation to the CCC or the electoral commission stuck.
During the council election the Mayor stacked her team, yes team, with LNP stalwarts all claiming to be independent players. Yet evidence shows now that they are either holding positions of power in the LNP committees locally or are guest speakers at LNP branches. The electoral committee just said all is well, when it wasn’t and the Mayor was meant to declare her team and disclose her teams support in donations etc. The rot goes all the way to the agencies that are meant to protect democracy.
Bay FM has been hijacked by the LNP and the grubby stench of branch stacking membership to rig the Annual General Meeting is yet to unfold. Key players of the LNP are conducting the phone around asking LNP faithful to become paid members of Bay FM so they can vote on the committee that takes over, removing the power away from the people.
Could it be that the Redlands is so blind with Liberal National Party stars in their eyes that they have forgotten what real political representation is like?
One only need to watch at polling booths as the old and bold families slink out of the shadows like some type of vampire hunting the vote for these so called advocates of the people.
Elections are like the mating call for every hill billy that graced Mount Cotton on Talty road, sniffing the scent of dollars and power.
So long as residents are not engaged and taking note the same old show will continue.

Well said Steven !
One of the few awake to the nonsense going on in the Redlands.
You would be surprised who the oligarchs are who push the buttons of the sycophants you mentioned. Several old families that want to sub devide their land who remain faceless but decided so much of what is going on.
Pay offs and kickbacks never surface or are declared for services rendered
months or even years later. And yes the ‘hen house’ goes into meltdown when there is a challenge to their honesty all the way to State Govt with the faceless Civil Servants closing ranks to cover their
indiscretions.
However it’s only a matter of time, be patient, human nature will prevail in this case.
There are people from both sides of the political spectrum that have been ‘on the take’ in the Redlands for the last twenty years from developers, it’s not just an LNP representatives issue.

Give the man a go!
Invite him to a sit down session where he can catch up with what your writers are thinking and say what he thinks he can do about these.
While at it he could outline his initiatives and show how these reflect what community thinks.

Hmm, I wonder who really ‘Me too’ is? You need to read the previous posts better. People are over this Guy and it appears they have already tried to do what you suggest.
It’s all starting to add up in the Redlands towards a change.
Andrew was put in power like Peter Doweling was not to listen and disrupt any threat to development as are we’re the rest of the names mentioned on this forum.
People are not that silly!!

Tracy, wouldn’t it be good if Andrew Laming came to a community meeting to talk about how long and hard he has lobbied Josh Frydenberg and Greg Hunt prior about how Toondah doesn’t stack up ? Also what is he lobbying for on the Commonwealth land…hand over for development or save for koalas?
It would be good to hear don’t you think? Then your point about “not listening and not disrupting any threat to development” could be explained.

Me Too, as I’ve said before some of us are not as silly or ill informed as Mr Lamings sicophants think.
I am fully aware of how the Redlands underbelly functions.
It’s a case of doing a little just enough to fool the community and hold back and facilitate certain projects behind the scenes.
The use of social media to run interference in the Redlands is rife, by subtle threats, putting red herrings out to gather information and isolate those that are entitled to have a voice. Andrew Laming and certain Councillors are specialists at it especially when they use a pseudonym eh Me Too?

Please don’t feel sorry for him when you throw him out the door, remember his is supposed to be a Doctor of something not sure if he knows that or sees that.
But he may be able to be reeducated if he can find a school with teachers that are willing to train him.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I am happy to assist with any query, and will always do as much as I can to assist. I am encouraged that I know each of you by name, and respect that you have been campaigning for a long time without success. Democracy means I help each of you, despite your political leanings; and will continue to.
Note to the admin: please dont forget to send this letter to the LNP. I appreciate the passion. See you when I doorknock next week.

He promises, and all his promises are empty words too fool voters, e.g. Rickerts Road.
He is not approachable for the classes of people below his stand.
And is only visible if voters can be collected…..lol

“I am a concerned voter in Laming’s electorate and have had nothing but negative or rude ( on his part) interactions with Laming on issues that concern me. I have had to cease contacting him, as he refuses to even acknowledge receipt of my emails. I have been told ” No. You’re wrong. ” that’s the standard of his replies, in the days when he actually used to answer. I have contacted him about issues of koala habitat clearances, Toondah Harbour, reductions to the RET Scheme and other local issues. We, the electorate, have the right to have a courteous, responsive representative, note the word representative. He should be reflecting and responding to electorate concerns. That is why we pay his salary. He has interfered in local council elections to ensure his preferred candidate won, when his Federal responsibilities are his job. Give us a quality, honest, hard-working candidate and remove this rude, arrogant clown.

How do I add my signature to this letter?
(A minor query re the sentence: ‘It transpired Mr. Laming had tried to carry forward unspent electoral allowances rather than return them to general revenue as proscribed.’
Should ‘proscribed’ be ‘prescribed’ in this context?)

Andrew Laming has no idea how to be a politician. He only thinks of himself and sees himself as better than everyone else. He also stereotypes professions, namely teachers. Really, he needs to get to the grassroots and see how the electorate really thinks and feels about his being our local member of parliament.

Andrew Laming is the most vile rude and obnoxious M.P I’ve ever spoken to. His attitude toward his constituents is that of total and blatant contempt. It is not the first tim he has openly belittled people, including myself and my husband.
It is my belief that his time is up. He needs to go. I’ve had enough ( as have many of us in the Redlands) of his pompous attitude, and his lack of achievement.

Andrew Laming’s ignorant & scathing comment regarding teachers is juvenile & displays lack of knowledge of teachers & their gazetted holidays -does he home school his children ?He needs to be replaced in Bowman with someone who actually cares and is committed to all the residents of this special part of Queensland.I have always voted Liberal but will NOT be voting for Laming in any future election

He was the first one that I contacted to ask why we were being treated so badly because we had worked hard all our lives and now could not even get a part pension to help our super pension. Do they want us to use up all our super that we have saved over all our working lives? I received a letter from his lordship Turnball after I had written to Laming but it is too late. We have voted Liberal all our lives but no more. Laming made excuses about how if your super runs out then you will get a pension. What a load of garbage. All pensioners who have lost their part pensions should protest also.

Well done Redlands 2030 even his own party has no time for him, the most arrogant self interested Pollie I know, only there to feather his own nest . Let’s hope that the LNP Take notice and choose a better more community minded, professional, ethical representative of the people of Bowman

Not to mention Mr Laming’s pathetic sideshow on marriage equality in 2016. When presented with the results of our petition, indicating majority support in this electorate for equal access to the Marriage Act for same-sex couples, Mr Laming’s response was: “I couldn’t care less”, which ran as headlines across the country until his press office was forced to retract the statement as “off the record”. Mr Laming made an apology to petitioners for spurning the democratic process we were undertaking, but has subsequently refused to shift his belligerent fence-sitting on marriage equality. At best, this shows an extreme unwillingness to even remotely represent his constituents. At worst, it’s a great big dummy spit. Whatever, Bowman voters deserve much, much better.

Seriously this Guy only because he facilitates the interests of the Redlands Business Round table.
He’s an absolute clown, can’t even register anymore in his medical profession.
His behaviour is beyond belief as our Federal representative.
Come on People get rid of him. He has worked at cross purposes to the community for years.